Heather Shannon

Heather Shannon is a counselor and health coach working in private practice in Chicago. She works primarily with "Type A" clients and takes a holistic approach to counseling, incorporating nutrition and lifestyle education into her work with teens and adults.

Part of me is angry I even have to write this. Shouldn't we all have the time and space to paint and write every day, frolicking in a meadow, braiding our hair with flowers we grew in the garden? Why would we need to remind ourselves to engage in this most valued human drive?

Nutrition is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. Because food struggles have been part of my personal journey it can feel like a loaded topic at times, but I know it is also one full of healing and health and even joy, which is why I want to share it with you.

I wanted to reach out and share a little bit with you all about mindfulness. It's a topic that has become increasingly near and dear to my heart. As I see my career moving forward, I see myself moving more towards incorporating mindfulness and instructing people in this valuable tool. Sometimes I call it a tool because we’re all comfortable with that sort of cognitive-behavioral language.

As I’ve discussed with a few of you, genetic testing has become a recent interest of mine. It’s very in line with nutrition/nutrient therapy and creates a personalized road map of what’s going on inside your body and how to improve your functioning.

Mostly we think about how we eat as it relates to our weight or maybe even for fueling our workouts, but what we eat and how we eat it has a big impact on our mental health as well. As I see it, this works in two ways: